He Comes with Questions

On Sunday, Emily and Noah came for a little visit. Emily and Noah helped us out for 2 weeks back in May.  Right now, they are helping out at the Possibility Alliance down the road.  We surely enjoy them being here. 

When Noah comes, he comes with questions.  Lots of questions.  Mostly the questions are about gardening.  Noah has done a little gardening and he is clearly seeking to garden more. 

What this reminds me of is that for a long while, gardening was "dropped" as a family skill.  In its place was trusting someone else to garden for us and place it in the store whenever we might want or need it. 

However, gardening is a highly sophisticated craft.  What the old ones knew about gardening had been carried down over countless generations.  Young children learned at the feet of their older siblings, parents, and grandparents.  Their first chores were simple ones.  On Monday, 2 year old Shivani was intrigued with carrying the weeds we were digging to the compost collection.  She would take the next little load in her 2 little hands, and off she would go.  As children grow and change, they took on (and take on) more complex tasks.

For those of us who have dropped this skill and intend to pick it up, the learning curve is steep.  Questions are abundant.  As a teacher, I came to know this as the "teachable moment" when the possibility for accelerated learning and retention is at peak.

We too come to each day with questions.  In gardening, learning never ends.